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"nBackground: Asthma is a life-threatening disease that can cause death due to bronchospasm. In addition to clinical symptoms such as wheezing, acute paroxysmal dyspnea, chronic cough after exposure to cold air or cough after exercise, spirometry is also necessary for the diagnosis of asthma. The association between respiratory symptoms and a positive methacholine challenge test (MCT) is still controversial. The aim of this study was to determine the association between methacholine test results and respiratory symptoms and allergy."n "nMethods: One hundred and forty-six patients with respiratory symptoms and normal baseline pulmonary function tests were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The participants were divided into two groups according to their positive or negative response to MCT. The association between MCT and the clinical symptoms and allergy was later evaluated statistically."n "nResults: Out of 146 participants of the study 59 (40.4%) were female and 87 (59.6%) were male. The mean age of the participants was 33.8±13.8 years. Sixty-one patients (41.8%) had positive results for the test. There was an association between a history of allergy, wheezing and age with positive MCT results. The other clinical signs had no association with the test."n "nConclusion: Methacholine challenge test is the best diagnostic test for ruling out asthma in patients with normal pulmonary function tests in whom we cannot definitely rule out asthma based solely on clinical symptoms. Nevertheless, in adults with a history of allergy, wheezing and also in patients below 30, the probability for a positive MCT is high.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The escalating global population, coupled with increased transportation needs and car production, has led to a surge in waste tire generation, reaching billions annually. Recognizing the environmental impact, there's a growing focus on utilizing waste tires as secondary raw materials and energy sources. Despite challenges posed by tire resilience and resistance to degradation, the current study advocates for pyrolysis as an eco-friendly method to recycle tires. It explores key process parameters (temperature and residence time) in pyrolysis, emphasizing qualitative and quantitative analyses of resulting oils compared to other products. The goal is to contribute to sustainable tire waste management and resource recovery. METHODS: The study employed Thermogravimetric analysis for rubber's thermal characteristics, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for pyrolysis oil analysis, Detailed Hydrocarbon Analysis using a VARIAN CP-3800 instrument, and a bomb calorimeter (Parr 1256) for measuring heat capacity in obtained oils. FINDINGS: The yields of pyrolysis oil, char and gas were 20-32.5, 45-60, and 5-30 wt.%, respectively. The Detailed Hydrocarbon Analysis results ranged from 5-20 showed that pyrolysis oils consisted mainly of 2,3-dimethylbutene, 2-methylbutene, t-isobutyl-4-ethyl-benzene, and 1-m-4-Isopropyl-benzene. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy showed the increase of aromatic components with increasing pyrolysis temperature. The measuring of highest calorific value of pyrolysis oil was 10309 Cal/g which showed good compatibility with commercial heating oils. CONCLUSION: Pyrolysis oils from waste tires exhibit calorific values comparable to commercial heating oils, suggesting a promising alternative fuel source with versatile compositions. The findings help to understand the feasibility and potential applications of waste tire pyrolysis in sustainable energy solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey on parasitic infection of Barboid fishes of Khouzestan Province in southwest Iran was conducted from spring 2002 to autumn 2004. A total of 296 specimens from five fish species were examined. The specimens were collected from five stations including Ahwaz, Golestan, Mollasani and Dez Reservoir on Karoun River and Hamidieh Reservoir and Shadegan Lagoon on Karkheh River. The fishes were transported alive to the laboratory where they measured and weighed and then killed by cutting their spinal cord. Eleven parasites were separated of which seven were identified to the species level and four to the genus level. Of the protozoans we found Ichlyophthirius multifiliis, Trichodina sp., Goussia sp., Balantidium sp. and of the myxozoans we observed Myxobolus persicus, Mkaruni, M nodulointestinalis, Miranicus, Mmesopotamia, Myxobolus sp., Myxidium rhodei, and Myxidium pfiefferi. We reported three new parasites and eleven new hosts for Iranian freshwater fishes and three new hosts for three Myzoxoans.

Due to the growth of population and industrialization, a great number of problems associated with producing industrial wastes have been created for both the environment and human beings. The industrial waste management in Brujen industrial park, located in the western part of Iran, has been investigated in this study using the environmental rapid impact assessment matrix technique. For this purpose, the effective activities and components were classified. The determination of the best scenarios with the least impact on the environment was performed by developing the scenarios for possible industrial waste disposal and making calculations by the rapid impact assessment matrix method. The components of the environment were first classified into physical/chemical, economic/operational, biological/ecological, and social/cultural items. Afterward, with respect to the criteria of the rapid impact assessment matrix method, the importance of environmental impacts was determined by standard scoring of the developed scenarios. Ultimately, the environmental score of each component for the scenarios was calculated using the rapid impact assessment matrix method, and the best scenario with the least environmental impacts was selected through a quantitative comparison. According to the results, scenario 3 (pyrolysis) and scenario 1 (recycling) were found to have the most negative impact and the most positive impact on the environment. Scenario 4 (incineration), with its severe air pollution, obtained a high negative score and was excluded from the options. As a result, two systems of recycling (scenario 1) and the sanitary landfill (scenario 2) were identified as complementary to each other and were selected as a solid waste management method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the effect of strain and impurity on the quantum conductance of semiconducting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been studied by ab-initio calculations. The effect of strain and impurity on the CNT conducting behavior and physical characteristics, like density of states (DOS), band structure, and atomic local density of state (LDOS), is considered and discussed separately and simultaneously. Our results show that the quantum conductance of semiconductor CNTs is increased by compression strain, elongation strain, and replacing nitrogen and boron doping in its structure. The amount of increasing in the conductance depends on the type of strain and impurity. Conductance of CNT can be increased even more in the presence of both strain and impurity, consequently semiconducting CNT can show metallic properties. This can open the study on the possibility of changing the semiconducting/metallic properties of CNTs along its length and the use of semiconductor CNTs in interconnects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental planning and management can have positive effects on development of some land uses including industrial areas that have a major effect on economic, social and environmental conditions. Considering the most important problems associated with modeling, the fundamental methods and functions of site-selection laid inside the geographical information system are not accounted for the multi-purpose experimental programs. The main purpose of this study is to present a systematic pattern for environmental management using genetic algorithm and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process in geographical information system in order to reduce uncertainty. Through fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, the weight of criteria was calculated after extracting the criteria by Delphi technique and identifying all the effective criteria and factors involved in site selection. After preparation of intended layers, each map was prepared in the form of raster layers on geographical information system. Information layers were combined after being valued and finally the map of suitable areas was prepared. Finally, the conformity of all the obtained maps was checked out with field conditions. In this study, the genetic algorithm was used as an optimization method applied for natural selection. It was also attempted to find better solutions among others. The results showed the best site for developing industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corrosion makes huge economic and ecologic damage all over the world. Biologic corrosion of sewer pipes is considered as a serious limitation in economic perspectives. To prevent biologic corrosive damage, lining techniques can be applied by materials and aggregate resistant to bacteria attack in sewer pipes. The role of bacteria is that they convert Sulfur compounds into Sulfuric Acid which causes highly corrosion. In this study, some concrete samples were lined using polymeric materials called poly urethane (PU) and poly vinyl chloride (PVC) and the role of these linings was compared in terms of improving durability and resistance of concrete samples in acidic environment. The experimental results indicated that, after a 3-month period, in comparison with PVC, poly urethane showed better durability and resistance in acidic aggressive environment. Furthermore, having made strong bonds with concrete surface, PU lining minimized the penetration of acidic solution [generated by sewage fermentation in sewer pipes] toward the concrete body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work proposes an effective scheme for automated Power Quality (PQ) events classification by using new combined Slantlet Transform and Multi Support Vector Machine (ST-MSVM). The recognition of PQ events is a very important task for finding the cause of equipment malfunction. Since PQ disturbances are non-stationary signals, the ST is an improvement of the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) which can be applied effectively as feature extraction method. In order to increase the generalization capability of classifier, correlated features are removed by Pearson's correlation method. The extracted features are given as an input to MSVM system for classification procedure. Various PQ events as well as simultaneous events are tested by the proposed ST-MSVM method. The results show the proposed algorithm can detect and classify different PQ signals correctly, even under noisy conditions, with high accuracy. Data generation for classifier testing is done by parametric equation and simulation software. The signals generated in these ways are very similar to reality, moreover noisy condition which is very close to the real situation also has been considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognition of power quality events by analyzing voltage waveform disturbances is a very important task for power system monitoring. This article presents a novel approach for the recognition and classification of power quality disturbances using wavelet transform and wavelet-support vector machines. The proposed method employs wavelet transform techniques to extract the most important and significant feature from details and approximation waves. The obtained severable feature vectors are used for training the support vector machines to classify the power quality disturbances. Various transient events, such as voltage sag, swell, interruption, harmonic, transient, sag with harmonic, swell with harmonic, and flicker, are tested. Sensitivity of the proposed algorithm under different noise conditions is investigated in this article. The results show that the classifier can detect and classify different power quality signals, even under noisy conditions, correctly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World Health organization (WHO) has reported that out of more than 10,000 of 250,000 tuberculosis afflicted children die annually. Pulmonary tuberculosis is a research priority in our country, and diagnos-ing this disease especially in children who are known as the major transmitter of the disease is rather difficult. As a result, it was decided to conduct an overall assessment on this age group in order to determine the importance of the findings of chest radiography and skin test in diagnosing the disease. The present descriptive study was carried out based on the findings of a health plan in Fasa , a Iranian town, during 1995 and 1996, on 2 groups: first-grade students of Fasa elementary schools. Among 2263 students, 102 (4.5%) cases had a positive skin test. According to the radiographic findings, tuberculosis was reported in seven (6.9%) of them. The diagnosis of tuberculosis is more difficult in children; this is because taking sputum samples for laboratory examination is rather difficult especially in children lower than 10 years. In this group, diagnosis is made based on the symptoms like cough, weight loss, history of contact with a TB patient and other diagnostic procedures including chest radiographies and skin test.

Molecular comparison of two parasites Lernaea cyprinacea and Lernaea ctenopharyngodoni was carried out using RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) technique. A total of 43 Lernaea specimens belonging to the two species were collected from the Guilan and Khouzestan Provinces. DNA was extracted using the Phenol-chloroform method. The quality and quantity of DNA was assessed using 1% Agarose gel electrophoresis and spectrophotometer. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was conducted on the target DNA under specific conditions and PCR products were subjected to electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels (6%). Polyacrylamide gels were stained using silver nitrate and DNA bands were analyzed with BioCapt software. The genetic analysis was conducted using POP GEN 32 software. Forty two primers, 10 nucleotides each were used for PCR reaction. Totally, 397 RAPD loci were counted on polyacrylamide gel where 349 identical loci were polymorphic of which some bands may be used as genetic markers for the identification of both Lernaea species. Data analysis on PCR products showed higher genetic variation (1.15%) of Lernaea ctenopharyngodoni in the Guilan Province as compared to that of the Khouzestan (0.0%).However, genetic variation (27.46%) of Lernaea cyprinacea in the Khouzestan province was 7.26 times higher than that of the Guilan province (3.78%). The two species showed a genetic differentiation of approximately 88%. Based on the observed molecular differences, we state that Lernaea ctenopharyngodoni is a genetically independent species from Lernaea cyprinacea.

Fish parasites from Valasht Lake and Chalus River were studied in spring 2005 and summer 2006. Fish specimens were caught by hand net and transported to local laboratory alive. We found three protozoa species, Trichodina trutta and Ichthyophthirius multifiliis on Oncorhynchus mykiss; and Chilodonella hexastica on the skin of O. mykiss and Leuciscus cephalus. We also separated metazoan parasites from the fish in the two sampling sites that included Gyrodactylus derjavini infecting skin and gill of O. mykiss, G. sp 1 infecting Alburnoides bipunctatus, G. sp2 from Barbus capito and G. sp3 from Capoeta capoeta gracilis and Tetraonchus menonteron that infested the gills of Esox lucius. Other parasites which we found were Myxobolus saidovi from the gills of C. c. gracilis, Bothriocephalus gowkongensis from intestine of Barbus capito, Raphidascaris acus from intestine of E. lucius and finally Argulus foliaceus from skin of Chalcalburnus chalco ides. This is a first time report of a new host, B. capito for Bothriocephalus gowkongensis and a new locality Chalus River for Myxobolus saidovi parasites. Furthermore, with the exception of Tetraonchus menonteron which have been reported before, the rest of the parasites of the fishes from Valasht Lake are reported for the first time.

Background: The latest guidelines advocate for catheter ablation (CA) over standard medical therapy (SMT) for managing atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, significant knowledge gaps exist regarding the effectiveness of CA vs. SMT in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF)., Methods: PubMed, Scopus, and Embase until February 2024 were systematically searched. Given the limited number of randomized studies, propensity score-matched observational studies comparing CA with SMT in AF patients with HFpEF were also included. The primary outcome was a composite endpoint of all-cause mortality and HF hospitalization., Results: Eight studies that enrolled 17,717 SMT and 2537 CA patients were included. CA was associated with a significantly lower risk of the composite endpoint of all-cause mortality and HF hospitalization (HR 0.61; 95% CI, 0.43-0.85). The risk of HF hospitalization (HR 0.44; 95% CI, 0.23-0.83), cardiovascular mortality (HR 0.43; 95% CI, 0.22-0.84), and AF recurrence (HR 0.53; 95% CI, 0.39-0.73) were also lower in the CA group., Conclusion: CA demonstrated significant cardiovascular morbidity and mortality benefits compared to SMT in the HFpEF population., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Cancer patients may encounter the onset of cardiovascular disease due to tumor advancement or chemotherapy, commonly known as "cardiotoxicity." In this respect, the conventional chemotherapy treatment protocol involves a mixture of different medications. These medications can be detrimental to cardiac tissue, consequently exposing the patient to the possibility of irreversible cardiac injury. The enhancement of oxidative stress and inflammation is an important mechanism of chemotherapeutic agents for developing cardiotoxicity. Regarding their dual pro- and anti-inflammatory functions, platelets can significantly influence the progression or suppression of cardiotoxicity. Therefore, the expression of platelet activatory markers can serve as valuable prognostic indicators for cardiotoxicity. The primary objective of this study is to examine the significance of platelets in cardiotoxicity and explore potential strategies that could effectively target malignant cells while minimizing their cytotoxic impact, such as cardiotoxicity and thrombosis., Competing Interests: Declarations Conflict of interest The authors declare no competing interests. Consent for Publication Not applicable., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Cardiac involvement in SLE can often go undetected. Three-dimensional (3D) speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) is a noninvasive imaging technique that can assess the function of the heart's ventricles in an accurate and reproducible way. This makes it an attractive option for detecting early signs of heart disease in SLE patients. By identifying these subclinical cardiac abnormalities, 3D-STE may help reduce the negative impact of cardiovascular diseases in SLE population. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the left ventricular (LV) function between patients with SLE compared to age- and gender-matched controls using two-dimensional (2D) and 3D-STE., Results: The current study found no significant differences in left ventricle ejection fraction, left ventricle end-diastolic volume, left ventricle end-systolic volume, left ventricle end-diastolic mass, and left ventricle end-systolic mass between the two groups. However, the SLE group exhibited a significantly lower LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) compared to the control group according to all types of echocardiographic assessments, including 3D and 2D long-axis strain, apical 2-chamber, and apical 4-chamber assessments (all P values < 0.05). Furthermore, a good inter-rater reliability and intra-rater reliability were observed regarding the LVGLS measurement with 3D-STE. Additionally, the study identified a significant correlation between LVGLS and SLE duration (r (50) = 0.46, P < 0.001). The use of prednisolone and nephrology disorders was also found to impact LVGLS measurements., Conclusions: Despite a normal LVEF in patients with SLE, LVGLS measurements indicated that LV systolic dysfunction was observed more frequently in SLE patients compared to their healthy counterparts. Therefore, advanced 3D-STE techniques may be useful in identifying subtle abnormalities in LV function in SLE patients., (© 2024. The Author(s).)